Large electrical installation jobs often requiring running wire or cable long distances through narrow or overhead passageways. The products being installed range broadly from common, solid or stranded copper electrical wire, speaker wires, coaxial cable, or complicated, multi-functional and braided cables that may transfer multiple types of signals or power. While some of these may be referred to as wires vs. cables, for simplicity the term wire will be used to reference all such varieties herein. Wire is typically installed through long pieces of conduit requiring it to be inserted through and then pulled along from the far end, which may be many dozens of feet away, around a corner, etc. Accordingly, it is necessary for the source of the wire (typically a spool of some sort) to remain fixed at a first location while the wire is paid out by being pulled from a second location. Once these distances get too far apart, tension builds and it becomes difficult to pull wire. Eventually, the installer must stop, install a junction box or the like, reposition the wire source, and start fresh.
Changes in direction (such as around corners, up or down walls, or around objects) in the path of the wire being installed increases the tension on the lines as it is being pulled through and drastically shortens the distance that an installer can work from the wire source. Thus, a good installer will design the routing to reduce the number of directional changes where possible. One directional change that is ideally avoidable is an immediate one from the payout source. Thus, it is desirable for the wire source to pay out in the direction the installer is working, adding as little tension to the line as possible. It is also obviously desirable for the wire source to stay put. If it moves when the wire is pulled, it can quickly get into a configuration where there is added tension from the wire source, or can lead to other calamities.
Wire traditionally comes wound on hollow spools between two round hubs. The spool and hubs form a reel that must be fixed in some manner to avoid rolling. A rod may be inserted through the spool around which the reel rotates to dispense the wire. However, this adds to installation time when the reels must be placed on and removed from the rod and whatever mechanism is holding it in place. There is also often a need to install multiple gauges or types of wire at once, which may be limited by the number of fixed rod stands available. Another option is for the reel to be placed in a dispensing box (typically cardboard or the like), such as shown in U.S. Pub. 2007/0295847 to Weck. This allows the wire to be stacked and transported efficiently, and prevents it from rolling. But the boxes can still scoot along a floor surface when the wire is pulled out if the box is not mounted in place.
Some wire dispensing systems have been designed specifically for cable or wire wound on reels and placed inside a carton or box. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,387,099 to Galgano describes a manual transporter or cart with axial inserts for insertion into entry holes of a wire reel, thereby axially coupling the central rod to the cart. While such a cart can accommodate several boxes of wire, it can only accommodate such boxes specifically sized to fit on the cart. When one box is exhausted, installation may need to halt because several boxes may need to be removed from the central mounting rod to allow a new box to be mounted. Also, as discussed further below, wire is now coming packaged in new varieties that cannot be accommodated by such a cart because there is no central hole or spool for mounting. Furthermore, the wire pays out in the Galgano cart only in the direction where the holes are cut in the boxes based on way the cart is facing.
Using such prior art systems, if an installer needs to change direction and install down a different hallway, for example, the cart must be manually turned. If two installers are working in opposite directions simultaneously, the wire will be tensing against the box in at least one of those directions at the payout source. Finally, where boxes are stacked on top of each other, the wire may have to be routed through several other boxes in order to break free of the cart assembly. All of this adds the chance for friction and tension to build in the line, reducing the operating distance and efficiency of the dispensing system. Accordingly, there is a need for a wire dispensing cart that helps reduce line tension and increase working distance, does not require constant repositioning, and can accommodate cable bags and the like.